Ford Ranger Gets Refreshed On the Cheap

You don’t have to dump a ton of coin into your old truck to make it feel new again.

Here at Ford Truck Enthusiasts, we love watching a project come together, whether it’s a high-dollar custom built or a home garage restoration. This build log, posted on Jalopnik by Peter Monshizadeh, is probably the cheapest build we’ve ever seen, but the results are impressive. In fact, it’s one of the most satisfying ones we’ve seen in a while.

Monshizadeh took on the job of selling his friend’s tired-looking Ford Ranger, initially looking to get only $1,750 out of it. With just 117k on the clock, that’s a pretty cheap price, but the truck had numerous cosmetic and mechanical issues.

After thoroughly scrubbing the body and interior — even removing the seats in the process — he was pleased to find a clean, well-preserved truck underneath all the grime. Removing some aftermarket accessories that had aged poorly (the bug deflector and side steps) further helped things out in the looks department, while a final coat of wax brought back the paint’s luster.

To finish off the visual updates, the cloudy headlights were replaced, and on the inside, the tattered seatbelts and broken cruise control buttons were replaced. We’re a big fan of visual updates that repair safety and drivability issues, so Monshizadeh really killed two birds with one stone there.

With the truck now looking the part, some mechanical repairs were made. The brakes were given a refresh on the cheap, with new pads up front and fresh hardware in the rear. Fluids were changed, a window regulator was replaced, and a broken seat mechanism was repaired.

The cost for all these repairs and updates? Around $250. It really paid off, though: the truck sold for $4,000, over twice the original expectation. Monshizadeh was able to get more cash for his buddy, and someone got a really nice truck. We call that a win-win.